Daughters
by Fullmetal Ai
Summary: After his marriage to Winry, Edward reflects on how he got to where he is now on the day his daughter is born. [EdxWinry]Dedicated to my niece, Lara.


**_Daughters_**

_**By: Rika (Akiana-chan)**_

_**To Lara, My youngest Niece - Age 3**_

_**Wednesday, April 13th, 2005**_

**oo**

_**I know a girl**_

_**She puts the color inside of my world**_

_**She's just like a maze**_

_**Where all of the walls all continually change**_

_**And I've done all I can**_

_**To stand on her steps with my heart in my hands**_

_**Now I'm starting to see**_

_**Maybe it's got nothing to do with me**_

_She never had her father,_ Edward Elric thought to himself and smiled as he watched his wife of eleven months, the former Winry Rockbell, stare down at their newborn baby girl. _I never had my father either. But I was okay with that. Sure, I missed dad, but all I really needed was my mother and my brother beside me, and I was set. But Winry .. she needed her father. And not only him, but her mother, too. _Edward's smile faded a bit, though it was still there. _I hear that girls need their fathers more than their mothers, and with Winry, I never could tell. _

_**  
Fathers be good to your daughters**_

_**Daughters will love like you do**_

_**Girls become lovers who turn into mothers**_

_**So mothers be good to your daughters too**_

****

When he was a child, he never thought he would fall in love with her later. Sure, there were hints; very many hints, in fact. But he had never seriously thought about it. Most young boys never usually do. At the time, Winry was just a friend .. who happened to be a girl. There was nothing to it, it was so easy to figure out .. or at least, at his age, it seemed so. As they got older, he had memories of arguing with Al over who would be the one to marry Winry. Ed was always very competitive, and Al was too, always wanting to best his older brother. Ironically, it _was_ Al who always won the arguments. But Ed could tell that Al never really meant that he wanted to marry Winry. They were young, and mischevious, and .. well, they were brothers. They shared a close bond as little kids, and still shared that same bond even now, in the present time. Winry, of course, always thought it was funny when her two best friends argued over who was going to marry her. She didn't want to marry Al, because he just wasn't her type. She didn't want to marry Ed, either, because he was, dare he admit, short.

He still was, too.

_**Oh, you see that skin?**_

_**It's the same she's been standing in**_

_**Since the day she saw him walking away**_

_**Now she's left**_

_**Cleaning up the mess he made**_

****

As time advanced yet another few years, Ed and Al lost their mother. And that was when they decided that they were going to attempt a human transmutation to bring her back. But when things went very wrong, Al was trapped in a suit of armor, and Ed had lost his right arm and left leg, trying to save Al's soul from dissapearing. Equivilant Exchange had taken more than they thought it would, and it changed their lives forever. Right then, the Rockbells' house became a second home to them, and they accepted the hospitality, though reluctantly. A few days after the incident that changed their lives forever, someone from the military in Central came to see Ed, offering him a chance to become one of them. He left a while after Aunt Pinako had asked him to, and it left Pinako in quite a horrible mood. But it got Ed thinking if he really should join them.

A while after, Ed heard Winry come into the room and examined the suit of armor across from his bed with a curious air about her. Her curiosity got to the point where Winry was actually sitting in Al's metal lap. Unbeknowest to Winry and Al, Ed was awake at the time, though the way his eyes were closed and the way his chest rose and fell told them different. Ed didn't have to look to know what was going on, and while he thought it was funny, he also felt something deep within him. He didn't know what it was at the time, and he thought he might have been sick, or hungry, or something. Later on though, when Ed requested that he have an automail arm and leg built for him, Winry was right there, working at her grandmother's side, and all for him. She seemed very determined, and Ed could have swore she glimmered in the light of the morning and afternoon sun, as well as the glow of the moonlight. He found himself trying to stay awake and talk to her, to keep her awake as well while she worked .. though she repeatedly told him softly that he needed his rest. Stubborn Edward always wanted to stay up and talk to her, and he didn't know exactly why.

_**  
Fathers be good to your daughters**_

_**Daughters will love like you do**_

_**Girls become lovers who turn into mothers**_

_**So mothers be good to your daughters too**_

****

Years later, Edward had grown into a young man of fifteen. He was still short, though, and his attitude had hardly changed at all. Edward was a State Alchemist now, and was always either out on a mission he was sent on by Colonel Roy Mustang, the same guy who had come to visit him all those years before, or absorbed in research about the much sought-after Philosipher's Stone. He still managed to come back home sometimes, to get his arm fixed after a battle had shattered it into many pieces, or to get his leg heightened to match his other one .. and though he never admitted it, he always, _always_ went back to see Winry. His heart always leapt for joy whenever he saw her, and he didn't show it often, but he felt nervous around her. He hated to see her cry, though he had felt that way for the whole time he had known her. However, the feeling of guilt and sorrow that was there when he saw the tears in her eyes had heightened to a new, dangerous level. He despised the tears that came out of her eyes occasionally, wondering who would ever make this angel weep like that.

Then he knew.

He loved her. He was in love with Winry Rockbell. the machine freak, his childhood friend, the girl who cared for him, argued with him, threw wrenches at his head .. and the girl that he had loved this whole time without knowing it.

_**  
Boys, you can break**_

_**You'll find out how much they can take**_

_**Boys will be strong**_

_**And boys soldier on**_

_**But boys would be gone without warmth from **_

_**A woman's good, good heart**_

****

Edward remembered the day he told her. Of course, they were alone, as they were many times during his trips back to Risenbool. They had been on that hill outside her house. Winry was worn out from working on Ed's automail, but it was worth the extra effort, because it was finally finished. Winry had her head on Ed's shoulder; She did this all the time, even when they were children. When she layed her head on his shoulder then, though .. it seemed Ed could feel the sadness that she held within her, knowing that he had to leave the next day. Ed put a protective arm around her waist, causing her to bring her head up off of his shoulder and look at him.

_"Edward .. " _She said. Ed looked her in the eyes, knowing that his eyes could show her how much he hated to go, how he really felt about her, all the longing, compassion, sadness ... all the love he had for her. Winry wasn't stupid, Ed knew that. She could read him like a book. But what she saw made her gasp softly in surprise.

_"Edward .. you .. do you .."_ Winry stammered, she couldn't find the words to say what she wanted to say. Ed nodded, leaning in closer, until he could feel the warm breath coming from her lips.

_"Yes." _A single word was all that was needed. Winry knew the truth now, and she seemed very happy about it. They closed the distance between them rather quickly, locking in a passionate kiss that told each other that they did in fact love each other. They had felt the same way the whole time, and everything finally surfaced with that kiss, the kiss that sealed the contract of love between them.

Three years later, Edward proposed to her. They were married six months after.

_**On behalf of every man**_

_**Looking out for every girl**_

_**You are the god and the weight of her world**_

****

Two months after they were married, Winry began puking in the mornings. A week and a half later, Edward and Winry Elric found out that a new addition to the family would be born in a little less than nine months. Both the expectant mother and father were elated to hear the news, but wondered if having a baby so soon after marriage was the right thing to do. They discussed it - though not as rationally as they had hoped it would be, due to Winry calling Edward a shortie from time to time - and realized that they didn't really care about how long they had been married. They wanted a baby, and so they went on with the plans. Edward soon realized that babies cost a lot more money than he thought. They had to buy a bassinet, bottles, pacifiers, toys, clothes ... and from what Ed had learned from baby books, babies were a lot of work to take care of as well. He didn't mind it, though. He was going to be there for Winry, and for his unborn child.

Nine months later, and here they were, in the hospital room. Winry had gone through twelve hours of labor until finally, their newborn little girl was born. The newest Elric in the family had arrived, and she was a healthy, beautiful baby.

_**So fathers be good to your daughters**_

_**Daughters will love like you do**_

_**Girls become lovers who turn into mothers**_

_**So mothers be good to your daughters, too**_

_**So mothers be good to your daughters, too**_

****

"Edward?" Winry asked, breaking Ed out of his thoughts. Ed looked back to Winry and his newborn daughter, smiling as he saw the innocent face of the sleeping baby.

"We've gotta name her, you know .." Ed said to Winry softly, so he wouldn't wake up the child. Winry nodded.

"I know. We've got to decide, and quickly. I don't want her to be known as 'baby girl' for the rest of her life!" Winry joked, yet she had a point. At the time of their child's birth, the Elrics had not decided on a name for her, so the nurse had to put her down as 'baby girl.'

"Well .. what do you want to name her?" Ed asked.

"Hmm .. " Winry thought for a moment, then grinned. "Frida."

Ed looked to his wife like she was crazy. Winry laughed.

"I'm joking, Edward. I wouldn't name her that, and you know it!" Then an idea seemed to pop into Winry's mind, because she smiled brightly.

"How about Lara? I loved that name when I was a child. I still do, actually." Ed thought it over, then smiled. He liked the name as much as she did.

"Yeah .. okay then," Ed looked at his sleeping daughter with a huge grin.

"Welcome to the world, Lara Jade Elric." Winry looked to Ed with a look of question on her face.

"Her middle name is Jade? Since when?" Ed looked to Winry with a grin.

"You suggested her first name, I think it's only fair that I give her a middle name."

Winry smiled. "I like it. I like it a lot."

"Good."

_**So mothers be good to your daughters, too**_

_**  
**_

_Winry never had her father, _Edward Elric thought to himself, _But I'm going to make damn sure that Lara has hers._

"Winry, I promise."

"Promise what, Edward?" Winry looked to Edward suspiciously. Edward gave Winry a quick kiss on the lips and grinned.

"I promise that I will always be here for Lara .. and for you as well." Winry smiled at this statement, not really expecting to hear it from her usually goofy, stubborn, and always ostensibly short husband.

"You promise?" Winry then turned his attention to Ed's hand, which was making it's way torwards the quietly sleeping girl, and watched as he took her tiny hand into his large one. He looked to Winry with rare, happy tears.

"I promise."

_- Owari -_

_- _

_- _

_-_

**Author's Note: **

**I got the inspiration for this story a while ago - I wanted to do a songfic to the song "Daughters" By John Mayer, because for some reason, it reminded me a lot of Winry. I couldn't think of an idea to write a songfic to, so it just kept in the back of my mind for a while, until today when I was on a website looking at fanart. I wasn't even looking at Ed and Winry fanart, or had anything in my mind at the time about babies. It just sort of came to me. **

**I am dedicating this fanfiction to my youngest niece, Lara Jade Neeley, who is at the time three years old. I haven't seen her or my other nieces in a year, almost two years, since my Sister and Brother-in-law moved away and never told us their new address, where they were moving .. they had only told us that they were moving in December of 2003, and next thing we knew, they were gone without a trace. I wish to find my nieces, at least. My nieces, Samantha, Sarah, Jessica, and of course, Lara, are all extremely adorable, smart, beautiful young girls, and I loved them so much. They all looked up to me, I was their idol, and they all loved me as much as I loved them. I'm hoping that one day, I can save enough money to find them and be reunited with them, but there is not much I can do now, as I am still a minor. I don't have a clue of anything that I can do to find them at all. **

**I'm hoping that I can dedicate a fanfiction to each of my nieces, just little one-shot stories, to help ease the pain of not being able to see them anymore. I haven't given up hope. I will find them one day. **

**Anyway, Chapter Four of Someone Like Me is still being written - sorry, everyone! I've been a bit busy lately, This week is a busy one as well, but i'll try to get some writing time in here and there. **

**Thanks for listening to my ramblings, and I sincerely hope you liked the story! Note, this is, and will remain a one-shot story. Please do not ask me to make another chapter, because you already know the answer to that. (Sorry, that was a bit rude. I'm just stating the truth, though! n.n;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in this fic. Lara Jade Elric in real life is actually my youngest niece, Lara Jade Neeley. Therefore, I don't own her either. I also don't own the song "Daughters" By the talented John Mayer. **

**Thank you for reading!**


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